Welcome to the
Waikato
Food Basket
This is a blog that celebrates the delicious abundance of the Waikato region.
Eat your Greens
I’ve always loved green salads. My definition of an abundant life includes a garden with an apple tree, a lemon tree – and salad greens and herbs. My absolute essential greens are flat-leaf parsley, curly endive and land cress.
Appreciating eggplant
I think eggplants are the most elegant of all vegetables.
These beautiful shiny purple vegetables/fruit, which are also often called aubergines, star in some of my favourite recipes.
Appreciating eggplant
I think eggplants are the most elegant of all vegetables. These beautiful shiny purple vegetables/fruit, which are also often called aubergines, star in some of my favourite recipes. Eggplants are abundant in local farmer’s markets at the end of a long hot Waikato...
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Writing about eating
The fruits of winter
Last weekend my friend Jane texted: “Let’s go and pick persimmons!” So on a sunny Saturday afternoon we drove out to the persimmon orchard at Matangi and collected some huge bags of gorgeous orange fruit. It was by far the easiest and most rewarding "pick your own"...
A lot of shallots
Shallots look like small, misshapen onions, or huge, bronze coloured garlic cloves. The Cato’s Potatoes stall at the farmers’ market sells them at this time of the year. These interesting members of the onion family can be easily turned into wonderful cold-weather...
Madhur’s potatoes
Last weekend my husband Matthew made his favourite spicy Indian potato dish to take to a potluck dinner for the World Voices singing group. It was very popular and people requested the recipe. The potatoes are cooked with whole spices and coconut oil, which gives a...